Clinch pin fastener

ABSTRACT

A clinch-type fastener is formed by simultaneously creating an undercut during the same forging that creates the head and displacer of the fastener. A fastener blank is compressed end-to-end between top and bottom dies whereby the axial compression of a blank causes the outward bulging of the shank at its midline. Simultaneously, a tapered end point and a tangential interference band are formed provided by a curvilinear-shaped bulge in the shank. As the bulge is formed an undercut is created between the bulge and a shoulder which extends downwardly from a head of the fastener. This method of formation and the fastener produced thereby are particularly suited to the manufacture of small clinch pins having a diameter in the range of 1.0 mm.

RELATED APPLICATION

This patent application is related to provisional patent applicationSer. No. 61/254,467 entitled “Clinch Pin Fastener” filed on Oct. 23,2009, priority from which is hereby claimed.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to fasteners which attach to metal panelsby the cold flow of panel material around the fastener. This type offastener is generally referred to as a clinch-type fastener.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Clinching fasteners are retained in the plates into which they areinstalled by a displacer feature of the fastener which is followed by anundercut directly beneath it. When pressed into a properly sized hole,metal from the edge of the hole is forced by the displacer to flow intothe undercut around the circumference of the fastener. When a clinchingor clinch-type stud is manufactured, typically a head and displacer areforged into a pin blank. The undercut is then rolled into the part in asecondary operation. Often, at the same time the threads are rolled ontothe body of the pin. When threads are not necessary, the undercut stillrequires the secondary operation which also incurs the additional costof cleaning the part. There is therefore a need in the art for forming aclinch-type fastener that includes all the necessary operative featureswithout requiring a secondary operation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In order to meet the above-described need in the art, the presentinvention eliminates secondary formation operations of a clinch-typefastener by creating an undercut during the same forging operation thatcreates the head and the displacer. Other features that are formed inthe present fastener at the same time as the undercut are a taperedpoint and a tangential interference band provided by a curvilinearshaped bulge in the shank. The configuration of these elements accordingto the present invention are of paramount importance for fastening pinsin the range of 1 millimeter in diameter because very small clinchingfeatures require a very tight tolerance to be held for the displacerdiameter and height as well as the undercut diameter and shankdiameters. The present clinching pin described herein includes atangential interference band and a tapered point which work together toguide the part through a very small diameter hole in the attached platewhile creating a slight interference fit between the hole and thefastener at the interference band diameter only. This creates minimalstresses in the plate while eliminating any tolerance between the innerwall of the hole and the outer diameter of the clinching pin.

More specifically, the Applicant has invented a unitary metal fastenerhaving a top most head that is the largest diameter of the fastener. Ashoulder extends axially downward immediately below the head andincludes an annular bottom displacer surface for displacing materialinto which the fastener is installed. A barrel-shaped shank is locatedimmediately below the displacer surface and forms the upper boundary ofan undercut located at the juncture of the shank and the shoulder. Anoutwardly divergent tapered arcuate surface of a top portion of theshank extends downwardly from the undercut. The barrel-shaped shank hasa midline bulge forming an interference band along the surface of theshank and is the largest diameter of the shank. Extending downward fromthe interference band is a convergently tapered surface of the shankextending downward to a bottom end of the fastener.

The method of forming the above-described fastener comprisescold-forging a fastener blank having a head, a shoulder and a shank ofreduced diameter. The blank is compressed end-to-end between a top dieand a bottom die whereby the axial compression of the blank causes theoutward bulging of the shank at its midline. Compression is continueduntil an undercut is formed between an annular surface of the shoulderand the bulge. The bottom die includes a cone-shaped pocket having adivergent side surface angle of 30° and a bottom pressing surfaceincluding a centered upwardly extending projection. The length of thefastener blank shank is within a selected slenderness ratio range suchthat said fastener bulges when formed and does not buckle during thestep of compressing the fastener blank.

In one embodiment, the present invention is used to form an assembly ofparts including a panel having an aperture and a plate located inface-to-face relationship with the panel. The plate has an aperture inalignment with the aperture of the panel. The shank of the fastenerbecomes rigidly affixed to the plate by the cold flow of plate materialinto the undercut caused by pressing a displacer surface of the shoulderagainst the plate as said fastener is passed through said panel apertureand into the plate aperture.

As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conceptionupon which this disclosure is based may readily be utilized as a basisfor the designing of other structures, methods, and systems for carryingout the several purposes of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a bottom right isometric view of the clinch fastener of theinvention.

FIG. 2 is a two-part diagrammatic view of the forging operation utilizedto create the invention.

FIG. 3 is a two-part side sectional view showing the before and aftersequence of installation of the invention.

FIG. 4 comprises a two-part front elevation sectional view of theinvention showing a sequence of installation.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring now to FIG. 1, the present clinching pin is a forged metalpart having a head 11, a displacer shoulder 13 and an undercut 15 thatreceives a cold flow of metal from the plate into which the part ispressed. It further includes a tapered tip 16 and a circumferentialinterference band 18 along the greatest diameter of its barrel-shapedshank. A recess 17 is present in the bottom end. As will be describedfurther below, all features of this pin are created in one formingoperation. Typically, this part is used to hold two sheets of materialtogether. A top panel can be captivated beneath the head of the pinwhile the body of the pin is clinched into the bottom plate.

Referring now to FIG. 2, the present fastener is formed using well knowncold forging equipment which includes a top die 21 and a bottom die 23as shown. The head and displacer are formed first as in any headingoperation for the creation of a standard bolt or screw. As shown in thisfigure, the body of the fastener is then formed by compressing the pinbetween its head and tip. The bottom die 23 includes a cone-shaped tool26 which is used to form the shank body 25. The tool has a centralupward projection and an included angle of 30 degrees for easy releasefrom the part. As depicted in the lower illustration, the forming toolpresses on the end of the part causing it to form a bulge 18 above thetool. The original diameter of the pin remains relatively constant atthe interface of the pin and the displacer which thus becomes the minorundercut diameter 15.

During the forming operation it is critical that the diameter and lengthof the pin cause the fastener to yield in compression and not buckle.This condition is designed for, using the slenderness ratio:

S=L_(e)/r where S is the slenderness ratio, L_(e) is the effectivelength of the shank column, and r is the radius of gyration. For asimple cylinder:r=D/4

where D is the shank diameter of the pin before forging.

The tack pin forming process can be modeled as a column with the headend fixed and the free end pinned. For this situation:L _(e)=0.707×L

where L is the actual length of the pin from under the head to the end.

The critical slenderness ratio is defined as:S _(cr)=√(2×π² ×E)/(σ_(y)) where:

S_(cr) is the critical slenderness

E is the modulus of elasticity for a given material, and

σ_(y) is the yield stress for a given material.

The length of the pin is maintained such that its slenderness ratio “S”is less than the critical slenderness ratio “S_(cr)”. This conditionguarantees that the pin will bulge when formed and not buckle during theprocess.

A second design variable for this pin is the ratio of the volume of thedisplacer to the volume of the undercut. For maximum pull-outperformance it is best to completely fill the undercut of the fastener.To achieve this, the diameter and height of the embedded portion of thedisplacer are adjusted to cause the volume ratio “VR” of (displacervolume)/(undercut volume) to be greater than 1. The displacer volume isa simple cylinder with a hole in it, and as such its volume is easy tocalculate as:

V_(disp)(π×h)×(r²−r_(h) ²), where “r” is the radius of the displacer,r_(h) is the radius of the installation hole, and “h” is the embeddedheight of the displacer. The shape of the undercut can be approximatedas a circulated triangle to calculate its volume, but a more accuratevolume can be derived using graphical or computer modeling methods. Thisformation method is particularly suited to small clinch pins having adiameter in the range of 1.0 mm.

Referring now to FIG. 3, when fully formed the present clinch pin has ahead 11, a displacer 13, an undercut 15, an interference band 18, and atapered tip 16. The purpose of the head is to retain panel 10 of anymaterial to a metallic plate 12, much in the way that the head of a nailor a screw retains whatever it is fastening. As shown in the “after”side of this illustration, the displacer lies directly beneath the headof the fastener and consists of two sections. As depicted in thisfigure, the first section of the displacer comprises the portiondirectly under the head down to the point where the plate is joined.Thus, there is a portion of the displacer that does not get pressed intothe plate. This portion of the displacer remains within the top panel 10being joined and is very nearly the same height as the thickness of thetop panel. As the “after” illustration depicts, the lower portion of thedisplacer 14 is the portion that is pressed into the plate 12 anddisplaces material into the undercut directly beneath it. Material thatflows into the undercut is trapped above the interference band 18 of thefastener to retain the fastener in the plate.

Referring now to FIG. 4, a specific application is shown where theclinch pin of the invention is employed to join three elements, a toppanel 31, an intermediate sheet 33 and a bottom plate 35. Theintermediate sheet 33 becomes clamped between the top panel and bottomplate when the pin is clinched into the bottom plate. Properinstallation of the present clinch pin first requires preparation of thepanel, sheet and plate to be joined. The bottom plate 35 must have ahole, in this instance a blind hole 34 that is equal to or slightly lessthan the diameter of the interference band 18 of the fastener. The toppanel 31 must have a hole that is slightly greater than the diameter ofdisplacer 30 and the thickness of the panel must be accommodated in theheight of the displacer.

This assembly is created as follows. With the panel, sheet and plateproperly prepared, the bottom plate 35 is first placed over an anvil,sheet and the top panel are placed over the bottom plate with theinstallation holes aligned. The tapered tip of the fastener 36 is thenplaced through the hole in the top panel and partway down the hole 34 inthe bottom plate. Finally, a flat punch 38 is used to press against thehead 37 of the fastener driving it downward into the hole until theunderside of the head of the fastener contacts the top panel 31 as shownin the lower illustration. The height of displacer 30 is dimensioned sothat the undercut 41 is filled with the cold flow of material from lowerplate 35 as the underside of the head contacts the top panel. Additionalforce loading against the head after contact further tightens the joint.

Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of theprinciples of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications andchanges will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is notdesired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operationshown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications andequivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of theinvention.

1. A unitary metal fastener comprising: a top most head, said head beingthe largest diameter of the fastener; a shoulder extending axiallydownward from and located immediately below said head, said shoulderincluding an annular bottom displacer surface for displacing materialinto which said fastener is installed; a barrel-shaped shank with alongitudinal cross-section having arcuate sides, located immediatelybelow said displacer surface; and an undercut located at the juncture ofsaid shank and said shoulder, said undercut being bounded above by saiddisplacer surface and below by an outwardly divergent tapered arcuatesurface of a top portion of the shank.
 2. The fastener of claim 1wherein said barrel-shaped shank further includes a midline bulge on thesurface of said shank having a circumferential interference band, saidband being the largest diameter of said shank.
 3. The fastener of claim2 where said shank further includes a convergently tapered bottomportion extending downward from said bulge to a bottom end of thefastener.
 4. The fastener of claim 3 wherein the diameter of saidinterference band is less than the diameter of said shoulder.
 5. Anassembly comprising: a unitary metallic fastener comprising: a top mosthead, said head being the largest diameter of the fastener; a shoulderextending axially downward from and located immediately below said head,said shoulder including an annular bottom displacer surface fordisplacing material into which said fastener is installed; abarrel-shaped shank with a longitudinal cross-section, having arcuatesides, located immediately below said displacer surface; an undercutlocated at the juncture of said shank and said shoulder, said undercutbeing bounded above by said displacer surface and below by an outwardlydivergent tapered arcuate surface of a top portion of the shank; whereinsaid barrel-shaped shank further includes a midline bulge on the surfaceof said shank having a circumferential interference band, said bandbeing the largest diameter of said shank; a panel having an aperture;and a plate located in face-to-face relationship with said panel, saidplate having a plate aperture in alignment with the aperture of saidpanel wherein the shank of said fastener is rigidly affixed to saidplate by the cold flow of plate material into the undercut caused bypressing said displacer surface against said panel as said fastener ispassed through said panel aperture and into said plate aperture.
 6. Theassembly of claim 5 wherein said fastener shank bulge provides aninterference fit with said plate.
 7. The assembly of claim 5 whereinsaid plate aperture is a blind hole.
 8. The assembly of claim 6 whereinthe interference fit is between the interference band on said shankbulge and an inner wall of said plate aperture.